Electrical engineer and suffragist. Born Phoebe Sarah Marks in Portsmouth. Aged 16 began teaching in London. Studied maths at Girton College Cambridge. Married William Ayrton in 1885. Elected a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1899 and was the only woman member until 1958 (shame on them). In 1902 she was proposed for the Royal Society but this was blocked because a married woman had no standing in law and so was ineligible. Not surprisingly Hertha supported the militant suffragists and marched in all the suffrage protests, in academic gown, which, of course, she was not entitled to wear. Mrs Pankhurst and other hunger strikers were nursed in her home and Hertha declared herself "proud" when her daughter Barbara was imprisoned. Barbara went on to become an MP and to produce Michael Ayrton, the artist. Hertha died in Sussex.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Hertha Ayrton
Commemorated ati
Hertha Ayrton
Hertha Ayrton, 1854 - 1923, physicist, lived here, 1903 - 1923. English Herit...
Other Subjects
Catherine Walters (Skittles)
"The last Victorian Courtesan". Born Liverpool. Died at home 15 South Street. The Independent says: "Catherine Walters is regarded as the last of the great Victorian courtesans. Lovers were rumoure...
Votes for Women
LSE History gives: "... Frederick and Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, who owned and edited the WSPU newspaper Votes for Women. Founded in 1907, Votes for Women was printed at the St Clement’s Press on C...
Teresa Billington-Greig
School teacher and one of the first paid members of the Women's Social and Political Union. She left the WSPU - as she considered the leadership too autocratic, and helped create the Women's Freed...
Minnie Baldock
Born in Bromley-by-Bow as Lucy Minnie Rogers. She worked in sweated labour shirt factory, married Harry Baldock in 1888, and they had two children. Joined the Independent Labour Party. Worked with ...
Dr Annie McCall
One of the first women to qualify as a doctor, in 1885. Born Manchester. She studied abroad and in London. Once qualified she quickly started a clinic and school of midwifery in her own home at 165...